Brits blame Apple, Nokia, RIM et al for smartphone woes

Some 44.8 per cent said they occasionally encounter problems with new apps, while 28.8 per cent said they continually did - 73.6 per cent in total.

A little more than 62 per cent of respondents said firmware updates had sorted out their difficulties, so it's no surprise that 87.8 per cent of smartphone users said they don't rush out to buy new models but prefer to wait to be sure any glitches have been ironed out. The figures above suggest they don't wait long enough, perhaps.

The surveyed smartphone owners have problems will connected applications. Streaming media, web browsers and social networking tools topped the list of problem apps well above any other.

Yet the respondents more readily blame the handset's manufacturer rather than carriers. Some 53.6 per cent of respondents blame the company that made their phone. Just under ten per cent said they blame the network provider, and 15.2 per cent said they apportion blame according to what the problem is, effectively increasing both of the above percentages.

When it comes to identifying the source of the problem - phone or network - 54.4 per cent said they couldn't tell. But 21.6 per cent said they could, to which we should add the 14.4 per cent who said it depends on the problem - 36 per cent all up.

Most respondents - 60.8 per cent - said they would have to be continually experiencing problems before they would change networks. Some 17.6 per cent said they'd switch if they occasionally had trouble with their phones, 13.6 per cent if the woes occurred rarely, and eight per cent would change if they experience just one problem.

Only 19.8 per cent of folk said they didn't tell others about their dissatisfaction with smartphone performance. The rest complain to friends, family and social network connections. Some even write to the papers.

Unsurprisingly, they all take note when others tell them about troublesome telephones.

They're a pessimistic group too: 90 per cent of respondents said they expect the next generation of handsets to be less reliable that the current array. Vendors, take note. ®